Murder of Shakilus Townsend

Shakilus Townsend was a 16-year-old boy who was attacked on 3 July 2008 in Thornton Heath, south London by members of the Shine My Nine (SMN) gang. He was taken to St George's Hospital but died shortly after on 4 July 2008.[1][2][3]

Townsend had become romantically involved with 15-year-old Samantha Joseph who already had a boyfriend, 18-year-old Danny McLean.[1] When McLean found out, he threatened to dump Joseph but she persuaded him to attack Townsend in a honey trap. McLean, Joseph and five other teenagers were found guilty of murder and in 2009, all seven were jailed for life.[1] One of the gang members involved in the murder, Andre Thompson, was released from prison in 2022.[4]

The murder was the subject of a 2012 BBC documentary, My Murder.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Summers, Chris (4 September 2009). "How lovestruck boy was lured to his death". BBC News. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Murdered London teenager was stabbed and clubbed: police". ABC News. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Siddique, Haroon (8 July 2009). "'Honey trap' girlfriend guilty of boy's stabbing murder". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Flora (7 June 2022). "'Honeytrap' murder gang member to be freed from prison". The Standard. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "'Honeytrap' murder tackled in new BBC drama". BBC News. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2026.

Sources

Further reading

  • Cane Hills (2025). Addiscombe Murders 1749–2021. Austin Macauley Publishers. p. 2007. ISBN 9781035878710.
  • Martina Althoff; Bernd Dollinger; Holger Schmidt (2020). Conflicting Narratives of Crime and Punishment. Springer International Publishing. p. 106. ISBN 9783030472368.
  • Robin Odell; Paul Donnelley (2016). The Mammoth Book of More Bizarre Crimes. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9781472118042.
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